China H1 nonferrous metals output 41.513m tonnes; profit up 94% as AI spurs tin, tantalum, indium price surges

In the first half of 2026, China's output of ten nonferrous metals reached 41.513 million tonnes, a year-on-year increase of 3.3%. Profits of industrial enterprises above designated size in the nonferrous metals sector totalled RMB418.39 billion, surging 94.0% year-on-year, placing the sector among the fastest-growing industrial sectors. Driven by AI computing infrastructure, prices of copper, aluminium, tin, tantalum and indium rose sharply, with tin up 40% over the six-month period, tantalum soaring 158% and indium climbing 60%.

China is the world's largest producer and consumer of copper products, accounting for more than half of global consumption. Rapid growth of AI and new-energy industries has kept copper inventories low, supporting elevated copper prices. At a copper processing plant in Ningbo, Zhejiang province, copper ingots are rolled, cleaned and pressed into copper strip coils used to make high-speed connectors and other components for AI servers, data centres and communication equipment. The manager of the facility noted that domestic intelligent computing centres have been rapidly deployed since 2026, leaving orders well ahead of capacity. Industry forecasts indicate global data centre copper consumption will reach 1.3 million tonnes by 2028.

Tin, valued for its high conductivity, low melting point and strong soldering reliability, has become a critical foundation material in advanced semiconductor packaging. The greater the computing power and the denser the chip stacking, the larger the tin consumption. AI servers, optical modules and advanced semiconductor packaging are the largest sources of incremental tin demand. In May 2026, a printed circuit board assembly plant in Shenzhen ran its production lines 24 hours a day to meet demand for circuit board assemblies for AI servers and optical modules; the explosion of AI orders directly fuelled a sharp increase in tin procurement. Industry surveys show that a single AI server consumes more than three times the tin of a traditional server. Leading Chinese tin producers have now built comprehensive circular industrial chains, creating a closed loop of mining, smelting, waste recovery and recycling. Through technology breakthroughs, they are raising recovery rates for waste circuit boards, tin slag and tailings, continuously boosting the share of secondary tin supply.